Horror Movies

Terror is big at the box office. Audiences love to be frightened. Teenagers like horror movies basically because they are frightened but at the same time they feel they are safe from danger. Nothing will really harm them. After the film they can just laugh and forget about it. Horror movies can be roughly divided into two groups: the gross modern ones -like Elm Street or Friday 13th-,which are very violent and which generally show the murder of young people. The old ones, in black and white, which are in general more entertaining and less violent, like the Dracula and Frankenstein series. For some people horror movies represent an escape from a boring reality by being taken to a world where unusual, dangerous things happen. For some other people, however, horror movies are ridiculous. They are not even funny since the amount of cruelty in them is really high. They are full of blood and screaming. Even though people know it is just a story what they see on the screen, they get really scared and they have nightmares after watching them.

Cursed Films

There have actually been many films that have a supposed "curse" on them that has affected the production, and even the cast and crew. The most famous are probably the Poltergeist series, "The Exorcist", "The Crow", and "The Omen." It is rumored that cast members have died because of the curses. Supposedly, there is something out there that did not want these movies to be made.In 1982, Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper released the horror hit "Poltergeist", which spawned two sequels and even a television series. The trilogy includes "Poltergeist" (1982), "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" (1986), and "Poltergeist III" (1988). Each film recounts an episode in the lives of the Freelings, a family who unfortunately moves into a house filled with evil spirits. But beneath the ghosts on screen, there is something even more chilling. An unusually large amount of deaths have occurred among the former cast of the movies. These deaths have risen the rumour that the productions were cursed due to the stories of the films. It was as if the monsters of the movie world were claiming victims of our world where monsters don't exist. Although coincidence would be a much more common response, four of the cast members have died from this trilogy, two were expected, the other two were not.22-year-old Dominique Dunne (Donna Freeling) died on November 4th, 1982 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. It was four days after her boyfriend choked her into a coma from which she never awoke. A few weeks earlier, Dunne had ended her abusive relationship with Los Angeles chef John Sweeney. On the night of October 30th, 1982, he dropped by their former shared residence to plead with her to take him back. The visit did not go as he had hoped, and with what he thought was going to be a quiet conversation, ended with him strangling her for what was later determined to be 4 to6 minutes, then leaving her for dead in her driveway. Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, sentenced in November, 1983, and released in 1986 after serving only 3 years,8 months of a 6 and a half year sentence. His sentence is controversial to this day. "Poltergeist", the film in which Dunne appeared, had been released earlier that year, in June. 12-year-old Heather O'Rourke (Carol Anne Freeling) died of septic shock in on February 1, 1988 at the Children's Hospital in San Diego. What had been thought to be ordinary flu launched her into cardiac arrest during the drive to the hospital as bacterial toxins, set loose by a bowel obstruction, made their way into her bloodstream. Her heart was successfully restarted and she was flown by helicopter to the larger Children's Hospital where she underwent an operation to remove the obstruction. The toxins destroying her system proved too much, and she died on the operating table.

The circumstances surrounding her passing rendered her death even more of a shock than it otherwise would have been. She went overnight from a little girl who had the flu to a dead little girl who expired during an operation to save her life. Of course such an unexpected death would fuel rumours, especially when considered in conjunction with Dominique Dunne's murder only six years earlier. O'Rourke appeared in all three Poltergeist movies. Poltergeist III had been completed at the time of her death although it had yet to be released, which lead to rumours that she had expired during shooting and a double had to be used to complete the picture. Gary Sherman eventually decided to use a double and shoot the alternate ended. In an interview he said that the worst time of his life was carrying that little girl out of the church in a casket. The other two deaths were of seasoned actors well into their careers, both suffering from serious illnesses that would in time take their lives. Because their deaths were not unexpected, only rarely is either one mentioned in connection with the Poltergeist "curse." 60-year-old Julian Beck died of stomach cancer onSeptember 14, 1985. Beck died during the end of filming and the release. 53-year-old Will Sampson died on 3 June 1987 in a Houston hospital after receiving a heart-lung transplant 6 weeks earlier.

Considered the scariest movie of all time, "The Exorcist" won two Acadamy Awards after its release in 1973. One for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the second for Best Sound. Most people would think that the book (written by William Peter Blatty) is a made-up story. Well it's not. A similar incident occurred in New England with a 13-year-old boy".People talk aboutThe Exorcist" curse. Due to the accidental deaths and fires on set, and even supposed mental breakdowns from the young Linda Blair (Regan), some would say that an actual demon was trying to stop the filming of this movie. Some rumours state that four to nine people died during the fifteen month filming period. Jack McGowen had just wrapped up filming his small part for the film when he died of a heart attack. Another rumour states that the man who Regan said would die up there was accidently killed while filming. There were other deaths too. One was that of Max Von Sydow's brother and Linda Blair's grandfather. A night watchman for the set, a crewmember that refrigerated the bedroom for the exorcism scenes, and a cameraman's newborn baby were also part of the unexplained deaths.

There was also strange behaviour and panic by the cast and crew reported by while filming. The filming was a very creepy experience. Another big rumour was that the set caught on fire one night when no one was there. It still remains a mystery to what caused the fire. There were also strange happenings at screenings for the film. They were filled with people vomiting, fainting, and breaking into hysterics. "The Exorcist" has proven to have some of the strangest audience reactions of all time. For some reason, the death tolls rose in the areas surrounding Georgetown after the movie was released. Heart attacks were recorded all over the world during premiers. There was even a lightning strike that destroyed a 400-year-old cross during the Italian premiere at the Metropolitan Theatre in Rome.

After this movie's release in 1994, "The Crow" became an instant cult favourite. Based on a comic book and starring Brandon Lee, the film is about Eric Draven and his fiancee who are brutally murdered one night. Then, a year later, the Crow brings his soul back to seek vengeance and earn his eternal rest.During rumours that "The Crow" set was cursed, many accidents happened. A carpenter was severely burned after the crane in which he was riding struck high-power lines; then a disgruntled sculptor who had worked on the set drove his car through the studio's plaster shop, doing extensive damage. Later, another crew member slipped and drove a screwdriver through his hand and a lorry full of equipment mysteriously went on fire.And there's also Brandon Lee's (Eric Draven) mysterious death during filming. They were filming a flashback scene to show how he really died. He was going to be shot with 44 Magnum which was not a prop, but a fully functioning firearm. The gun was loaded with blanks, they are as loud as real bullets, but when fired only the harmless cardboard wadding with which they are packed is ejected from the gun. But when the gun was fired, Lee fell to the floor with a wound in his left abdomen. Apparently, the metal tip of one of the dummy bullets had somehow pulled loose from its brass casing and killed Brandon Lee.

In 1976, "The Omen" was released and it was a hit. It follows the story of an American ambassador who learns that his son is actualy the antichrist. On the first day of filming, a crew member was in a car accident which destroyed a company car. The crew shot a scene at Windsor Safari Park including lions, that was eventually cut. The day they finished shooting with lions, a guard was killed by two of them. A flight from LA to London with Gregory Peck on it was hit by lightning, and an engine was knocked out. Then eight hours later, a plane with the screenwriter, David Seltzer, on board was also hit by lightning. Then, after "The Omen", the special effects director John Richardson, went to Holland to make "A Bridge Too Far", with his girlfriend. He was involved in a car crash, and his girlfriend was beheaded, just like David Warner was.In "Damien Omen II", the curse continued. The best friend of William Holden was stabbed while they were on holiday. Also, the entire cast came down with a rare form of influenza, even though no outbreaks had been reported. Were these deaths and accidents coincidences? Or were they an omen for the filming to stop?Whether they were deaths or accidents, these supposedly cursed movies may make you think a little. Despite the fact that some of the rumours have been proven false, there are still questions concerning the ones that haven't. So upcoming filmmakers should think twice before doing horror!

Rules for Surviving a Horror Movie

1- Do not search the basement, especially if the power has just gone out.

2- Never accept invitations form strangers, especially individuals who inexplicably live in isolated areas and have no contact with society.

3- Never read a book of demon summoning aloud, even as a joke.

4- If you are searching for the cause of a noise and find out that it's not just the cat, leave the room immediately if you value your life.

5- If appliances start operating by themselves, move out.

6- If you find a town that is deserted, it's probably for a reason. take the hint and stay away.

7- When it appears that you have killed the monster, never check to see if it's really dead.

8- If your car runs out of gas at night, do not go to the nearby deserted-looking house to phone for help.